blue_star_seriesfandomcom-20200214-history
Kuzma Mayakov
Kuzma Ardalionovich Mayakov (Russian: Кузьма Ардиалиович майяков; 1 November 1910) is the youngest son of the Mayakov family. Kuzma's home town is Tver, but he spends most of his adult years in Moscow. Early Life Kuzma was born the youngest son of his middle class parents in 1910. He was named after Saint Cosmos, whose feast was celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox tradition on Kuzma's birthday, November 1. Kuzma grew up a shy and sensitive child, especially since his parents did not get along. By the time he was five, his father Ardalion was already technically separated from his mother. Time in the Army and Becoming a Writer Kuzma is very uncertain about serving in the army. He has to serve in the army starting in 1931 due to the conscription law of 1925. Draft age being 21 years (in the 1930s, before WWII started in 1939 which lowered the draft age to 19 years and then to 18), Kuzma went to the Army after he finished a writing intensive program at Moscow State University. He only had to serve one year in territorial formations. What Kuzma greatly disliked about the army was its strict hierarchical structure and the pressure that was put upon him (directly and indirectly) by his parents' expectations (Kseniya, despite having broke up with Ardalion, has similar expectations from her sons and can be very judgmental), particualrly his father's expectations. He always felt like he could not be like his older brothers Mitya and Yura, who seemed to have much less difficulty fitting in and actually wanting to do the tasks assigned to them by the Army. He also greatly disliked how many of his peers hated him for his connections to his brother (a former higher up in the military) and his father, who was even higher up and still a very 'large' presence in the Army in general. Many of his peers could not openly 'haze' Kuzma for fear of retribution due to Kuzma's connections, but they expressed their dislike of his meek and mild personality as well as his 'protected status' through other means. They mocked his sheltered upbringing indirectly and often ignored him. Many of these young men were from backgrounds totally different from Kuzma's--either from the village or from the urban working classes. Many of them were prone to being very sexually liberal often goes to visit prostitutes and in the eyes of Kuzma, were 'crude, lewd, and lacked two brain cells to rub together.' Unfortunately, he learns nothing of the sort during his time in the army. He can deal with the intensive physical training, but what he can't stand is the attitude of the men in the army: domineering, sexually aggressive, macho, and violent. He is reminded of his father's sexual dalliances again and how he had hurt Katya. Kuzma witnesses and is unable to stop a group of soldiers from harassing a woman who dared to flirt with one of them. Kuzma feels conflicted: is he overreacting? Perhaps his father was right after all and he was overreacting to things that were not so bad after all. It was all because of his ego, wasn't it? Because he wanted to feel superior to these independent, hot-headed men who knew what they wanted, while Kuzma himself was wishy-washy, lacking in confidence, anxious, and confused about what he wanted, sexually, socially, and in terms of his career. Kuzma is glad when he is finally discharged from the Army at the beginning of 1932, which is also around the same time he meets Galkin, a writer and propagandist looking for new grads and others to help him with state-sponsored as well as personal projects. Wanting someone less experienced so he can pretty much run the show, Galkin decides to hire the naive Kuzma, who is confused about what he can do now that he's finished his education and finished his conscription. Personality Kuzma's years of having an inferiority complex express themselves in a burgeoning desire to control others. His childhood love, Katya, bumps into him again in 1932, and he tries to get closer to her, feeling that he can finally add some spice to his boring life. He wants to be her saviour and liberate her from her oppressive life as a factory worker, but in reality, what does he have to offer her but a bunch of lofty sounding platitudes and vague philosophies? Katya is very impressed by Kuzma’s politeness, his manners, and his lofty interests which she feels (due to her lack of exposure) will help her, because Katya has always wanted self improvement and she feels that Kuzma can give her this. After they start talking, Katya is flattered that someone like Kuzma is showing interest in her and that he wants to spend more time with her. She doesn’t suspect that Kuzma may have ulterior motives of having some sort of saviour syndrome towards her, and that he feels very inferior and worthless beneath his confident exterior. After her father’s death, they argue in a cataclysmic scene which I have illustrated, of Katya crying. They argue and Katya starts feeling that Kuzma has been manipulating or trying to control her all along, by trying to impose certain values and expectations on her, and that he is in love with his projection of her rather than she herself. Kuzma always seems discomforted by her past, especially her affair with Ardalion, and he, just like her father, injects a victim narrative onto her story. When she tells him that she was no victim, Kuzma immediately shuts her down and imposes his views on her. He implies through his words that if she doesn’t accept his narrative of her life, then she is sexually or socially deviant, which really hurts her. Eventually, however, Kuzma matures and grows more confident and reconciles with Katya. After being put through a ton of horrfying interrogations by the State, he realizes that he does love Katya once he manages to suppress his ego and wonders if she can ever forgive him. He decides to make up to her and finds out to his surprise that she has forgiven him. Not only that, but she is willing to give their friendship another shot. Elated, Kuzma decides to open up to her and be more honest with her. The two become good friends and eventually lovers. Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Mayakovs